Legal Definitions - reddition

Definition: Reddition (ri-dish-uhn) is a historical legal term that refers to an acknowledgment made in court that a person is not the rightful owner of a property that is being demanded, and that it actually belongs to the person making the demand.

Example: In medieval times, if a lord demanded that a peasant surrender a piece of land that the lord claimed belonged to him, the peasant could make a reddition in court, admitting that he did not own the land and that it rightfully belonged to the lord.

Explanation: This example illustrates how reddition was used in medieval times to settle disputes over land ownership. The peasant would make a formal admission in court that he did not own the land and that it belonged to the lord, thus ending the dispute and allowing the lord to take possession of the land.